The chipmunk is a general name for any small squirrel-like rodent species in the family Sciuridae[?], genus Tamias.
Twenty-five species fall under this title, native to Europe, Asia and North America. The common species of the United States is the Tamias striatus.
The name stems from the loud chip sound that they make, in addition to a rapid trill sound. They are also called the striped squirrel or ground squirrel.
Though they are classically depicted with their paws up to the mouth, eating peanuts, or more famously their cheeks bulging out on either side, they eat a much more diverse range of foods than just nuts. Their omnivorious diet consists of grain, nuts, birds' eggs, and insects. Come autumn, it begins to stockpile these goods in its burrow, for winter. It lives in its nest until spring,
In Disney's animated movie The Emperor's New Groove[?], character Krunk regularly converses with chipmunks, in their language of squeaks.
wikipedia.org dumped 2003-03-17 with terodump